Timbers extend unbeaten streak to 10 with 2 all draw against Whitecaps

After missing most of 2012 because of ACL surgery, Jose Valencia has recovered to become a key reserve for the Timbers First Team plus a regular contribution to the Reserve team. The team had been looking to bring him on when they needed a spark off the bench, and suffice to say, he did exactly that against Vancouver in netting the tying goal late.Kip Kesgard, community blogger

The
Portland Timbers have certainly enjoyed their history in British Colombia since
joining MLS in 2011, especially since they have yet to lose to their Canadian
rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps, in two matches up there. Considering this had
gone contrary to the history prior to the Timbers and Whitecaps both making the
move combined with a nine match unbeaten streak prior, the Timbers had plenty
of optimism going into a May 18 battle up north. However, Vancouver has been
playing some of their best soccer lately and holding an undefeated record at
B.C. Place. The match itself featured
plenty of ups and downs, but in the end, the
Timbers pulled off an improbable draw behind Jose Valencia's first MLS goal in
the 84th minute as the teams played to a 2 all result.

Coach
Caleb Porter has settled into a group for his usual starting eleven –
goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, defenders Jack Jewsbury, Andrew Jean-Baptiste,
Futty Danso and Michael Harrington, midfielders Will Johnson, Diego Valeri and
Diego Chará, and forwards Rodney Wallace, Ryan Johnson and Darlington
Nagbe. Porter did have some interesting
options off the bench with defender Ka Modoh Pah, utility player Ben Zemanski,
forwards Kalif Alhassan, Jose Valencia, Frederic Piquionne and midfielder Sal
Zizzo. The Timbers made a decision to
wear the Rose City Red kits for the Cascadia Cup clash, apparently believing
that Vancouver would be playing in one of their darker colored kits, blue or
brown. However, the host Caps were decked out in all white which made for a
rather difficult television viewing experience

Vancouver
changed up their lineup by giving former USL Timbers goalkeeper Brad Knighton
the start in goal for incumbent Joe Cannon, but he wasn't the only former Timbers
player in the lineup for Vancouver. Erik Hurtado, a graduate of Westview High
School in Beaverton and a member of the Timbers U-23 in 2011 and 2012, would be
making the start at forward for Vancouver. While missing key contributors Daigo
Kobayashi and Kenny Miller due to injury, the Caps still had plenty of weapons
available. Whitecaps Coach Martin Rennie
kept forward Darren Mattocks on the bench to start, choosing to put Hurtado up
top with Camilo Sanvezzo and Russell Teibert with Gershon Koffie and Jun
Marques Davidson in the middle. With Portland boasting the long unbeaten run and
Vancouver yet to taste defeat at home, it would be interesting to see if any streak
would be broken.

View full sizeVancouver, British Columbia and the Whitecaps' home, B.C. Place, are fast becoming a fan favorite for travel. From estimations, it looks like a good contingent of Timbers Army made the trip up north for the weekend.Rick Curwen, community blogger

First Half Thoughts:
Both sides appeared to be pressing early after the whistle started, but while
Portland had some good work in the middle of the pitch to pass about, they were
having trouble linking the final pass.
R. Johnson got things moving along with an attempted crossing pass from
the left in the 7th minute to find a teammate, but Knighton made the
save in traffic. Meanwhile, Camilo was
doing his best to create space and got a foul for backing into Harrington
trying to collect a cross in the 6th minute. Hurtado was trying to create something early
on the right flank, and after getting past Jewsbury, he attempted a shot from a
tight angle but his effort struck the side netting.

The next 10 minutes featured more of
the same – Portland moving the ball on the wings but not linking the final pass
to challenge Knighton while the duo of Koffie and Camilo were busy swarming the
top of the penalty box for Vancouver, but the Timbers were able to defend each
threat fairly well. Valeri and Wallace combined on a great chance
from the right when Valeri tried a one timed shot that Knighton stopped, but
the ball squirted from his grip toward a charging Wallace. However, the Vancouver defense was able to
clear the ball away for a corner kick before Rodney could put a shot on
goal.

With pressure building for both sides,
it looked like an error would be needed to give somebody an advantage, and that
happened in the 23rd minute.
Harrington was trying to pass the ball back to a teammate, but his pass was
sloppy and not directed at anyone in particular, allowing Camilo to
intercept. As he attacked the goal, W.
Johnson slid in from the side with a slight hip bump, and Camilo went down
under the minimal contact. Center
official Matthew Foerster awarded the free kick just outside the box, and gave
W. Johnson the caution despite it appearing that Camilo exaggerated the
contact. Camilo stepped up to take the
free kick, and his effort found the upper right corner of goal to put the home
side up 1 to 0. For Vancouver, it was
their first free kick goal for 2013 and it put the Timbers in unfamiliar
territory lately in being behind by a goal.

View full sizeWhitecaps forward Camilo Sanvezzo has produced some good matches against the Timbers, and his effort on May 18 against them was no exception. He scored the free kick in the 24th minute for their first goal, then assisted on Gershon Koffie's effort in the second half that was nearly enough for them to win. The Bleacher Report

Camilo was at it again four minutes
later when he and Danso went after a loose ball in the middle of the pitch, and
Camilo leapt into Danso to try and create the foul. While Foerster didn't call a foul, Camilo
laid on the pitch for several moments to get medical attention. To me, this was
a veteran trick to gain some sympathy from the officiating, and I had to wonder
if this would come back to hurt the Timbers later in the match. Portland
continued to pressure and Wallace put a header on frame forcing a big save from
Knighton, in the 30th minute, but in the 34th minute,
they had to alter their attack due to injury.

After triggering their fourth corner
kick but not finding goal, Vancouver was able to push the ball wide with Lee
Young-Pyo and Nagbe tried to stop the run, but Pyo appeared to dive a bit and
Nagbe landed awkwardly trying to avoid the contact. Pyo recovered quickly, but Valeri ended up
having to trip the Caps defender to stop the run. The play earned Valeri a caution, and Nagbe
was unable to continue meaning that Porter had to bring on a sub early. Kalif Alhassan came on for Nagbe, and my hope
is that the playmaker is ready to go next week against D.C. United.

R. Johnson earned a solid chance in
the 36th minute off an outstanding cross from Wallace, but he's
taken down with no foul. While there
does appear to be a bit of flopping to sell the contact to Foerster, it also
appears that one of the Vancouver defenders hits RJ in the head to no
call. The ball is deflected out for a Timbers throw,
but buildup just leads to a Valeri shot that flies over the ball. The final big threat of the half was courtesy
of Camilo, who tried to create some contact off a cross from Caps midfielder
Nigel Reo-Coker in the 44th minute with Chará defending. The contact appears minimal and Chará pleads
for a call for diving, but the ball is eventually cleared out. With just a few minutes of stoppage, neither
team was able to add to the scoreline and the match went into half 1 to 0 for
the home side.

For the Timbers, they had some
statistical advantages across the board with 69.4 percent of possession, seven
shots on goal, and three good scoring chances, but it was also full of mistakes
and sloppy play that Vancouver took advantage of. Porter's comments at the half was that he
wanted his team to show more energy and play smarter, and while the stats
indicated things weren't too bad, I had to agree with the coach that the
Timbers needed to step up their urgency quite a bit in the second half.

View full sizeWill Johnson scored another big goal for the Timbers courtesy of a penalty kick in the 50th minute, but his work led to that opportunity off the wing. Johnson took the shot that Whitecaps defender Andy O'Brien handled with his arm that led to the penalty call.Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

Second Half Thoughts: The break saw neither side make any changes, with the Timbers having to substitute out Nagbe for injury. I was hoping the tempo would be better for the Timbers to start the half, but it was Vancouver's Camilo that forced Ricketts to make a big save in the 46th minute from a tight angle. Portland was able to get R. Johnson a run forward moments later off an Alhassan through ball, but he couldn't get to the loose ball in time. It was becoming evident that the Timbers could open it up here with more precise passing, but they would have to be more consistent with their final pass.

The
Timbers finally were able to break into the score in the 50th
minute. Jewsbury took a throw in on the far right to Alhassan, who tapped it
back to Jack who put a crossing pass intended for R. Johnson. The ball skipped out high where Harrington
was able to collect and pass out to W. Johnson.
As Will settled in and attempted to put it on goal, the ball struck Caps
defender Andy O'Brien in the arm in the box, and Foerster called the penalty
kick for the Timbers. Will stepped up
for the effort, and pushed it left as Knighton went to the right. The Timbers captain gave his team the
leveling goal, and then started to shush the Southsiders after his conversion.

The
result was short lived as moments later, Vancouver took the lead. Off a throw in, Camilo drew four Timbers into
the box after the long throw, and he was able to tap the ball back to Koffie
who was unmarked and able to set up going to the right. Koffie was able to curl the ball into the
upper right corner of the goal past Ricketts, who didn't seem to have picked up
the shot. The home side was hoping this
would be enough, but considering there was still over a half an hour left in
this one, this one was setting up for a wild finish.

The
Timbers got a free kick from 30 yards out at the 60th minute off a
Reo-Coker caution for a foul on Chará, but Will's effort was just wide left. Porter brought Piquionne on for Ryan to try
and stretch the Caps defense about more, and his arrival seemed to open things
up a bit more. The Timbers defense was
starting to get pushed as well, as Harrington earned a caution for a clumsy
challenge on Teibert in the 70th minute. Their numbers were pushed even more when
Porter decided to bring on Jose Valencia for Jewsbury in the 77th
minute, leaving the Timbers with a three player backline of Danso, Jean-Baptiste
and Harrington for the final push. While
the adjustments did result in some increased pressure for a while, the Timbers
were forced into one final maneuver they weren't expecting in the 81st
minute.

View full sizeThe Portland Timbers took a big lead in the Cascadia Cup standings for 2013, earning two draws against their rivals on the road already. The Timbers will still make one more trip to Seattle and Vancouver, but they will also host each team one more time to determine this year's Cup holder.Jennifer Kesgard, Community Blogger

Reo-Coker
put a speculative ball forward intended for Camilo with Danso giving chase in
the 81st minute, and both players collided while going for the
ball. With Danso being the last defender
and appearing to go down on contact, Foerster pulled out his cards for the foul
but shocked many by going to a straight red for Danso, putting the Timbers down
to 10 men for the final 10 minutes. Considering that the players were in line
with each other on the move and Camilo stepped into Danso's path trying for the
ball, the call was absolutely egregious.
It forced the Timbers to pull Piquionne back to defense, but in an
unlikely way, the situation may have corrected itself minutes later.

In
the 85th minute, W. Johnson held the ball at mid-pitch and launched
a long ball forward intended for Valencia just inside the box, and Valencia was
able to split Caps defenders Andy O'Brien and Brad Rusin to collect the pass. Rusin
helped the situation by jumping in the wrong way, and O'Brien was unable to
guard all the space, and Valencia was able to tap the ball by him and Knighton
to give the Timbers a lifeline. For Trencito, it was his first MLS goal and it
couldn't have come at a better time.

For
the last several minutes, both teams continued to try and press for a winning
goal. Vancouver brought on Mattocks for a late run, but he didn't generate
anything while Valencia nearly stole the entire three points in the second
minute of stoppage with an incredible run on the right, but his shot was pulled
wide of goal although Jose should have dropped back for an open Chará who might
have found the net without issue.
Despite all the pressure and almost five minutes of stoppage time, the
Timbers and Caps drew at 2. The result extended their unbeaten streak to 10
while the Whitecaps kept their home unbeaten streak going in 2013.